Thick rimmed glasses and slim fitting suits
Skinny ties and wool fedoras
Red lips and frothy crinolines
Cigarettes and Champagne

Do you love the styles of the early 60’s? Do you look forward to Sunday night all week, just so you can watch Betty and Joan and Don? If you love Mad Men, then boy do I have a film for you. Tomorrow is the public release of “A Single Man”. In this adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s novel, Colin Firth plays the role of George, a gay English professor who is mourning the death of his long time partner and trying to discover what makes his life worth living. He finds comfort in his close friend Charley played by the beautiful Julianne Moore, who is also on her own path of self discovery. The trailer gives just enough information to make you yearn to see more.

No wonder the film is oozing with style and sophistication; it was directed by one of the most influential arbiters of style of our time, Mr. Tom Ford. His first foray into directing has been a success, getting rave reviews from critics not only for the eye tempting, teasing and pleasing visuals, but also for the dramatic performances of both Colin Firth and Julianne Moore. This may be old news for those of you fortunate enough to have seen the film at our very own Toronto International Film Festival or in Venice, Tokyo, London or Los Angeles in November, where it closed the American Film Institute Festival.

For the rest of us, I’ll see you tomorrow at the Cumberland Theatre, dressed in your best suits and cocktail frocks, 6:45 sharp.

A Single Man - Offiical Trailer

It’s gift-giving season and you’re finding yourself not inspired? Even though we’re less than 20 days away from Christmas, I’m sure some of you haven’t finished your gift shopping. Therefore, I’d like to take this opportunity to make a few suggestions. I have a very fussy friend who always ends up buying her own fashion items. Even worse, if I get her something, it always turns out that she already has it and must return it. This year, I’m offering her a different gift: I got her a beautiful picture frame with space for three photos. In the first spot, I handwrote my Holiday wishes for her. In the second, I inserted a $50 Holt Renfrew Gift Card. And in the last spot, I put a picture of an object she covets and saves her money for (like a Chanel bag or an Alexander McQueen scarf, etc.). This way, I’m offering her a gift, while giving her the option of selecting anything she falls for. I believe this adds a more personal touch to the gift card.

The photo here features an example of this type of picture frame but I didn’t want to show you the actual style I’m giving my friend for fear she’d see it before Christmas. Don’t hesitate to use your imagination to create a unique gift: you might want to add an additional gift card, a picture of you and your friend… the sky’s the limit! If you’re running out of time, the magenta box in which gift cards are presented is always appreciated; I’m convinced your friend will be love her gift.

In a time where shoppers are looking for recession-friendly pricing on basics such as denim, a new wave of price savvy jean brands are causing quite the market buzz. One of those brands is LA-based Black Orchid, founded by denim guru Julien Jarmoune. If his name sounds familiar it’s because he was responsible for putting J & Company on the map. With a philosophy founded on bringing about easy to wear elegance, Julien has created a jean that appeals to a wide-spectrum of women, affectionately nicknamed “the classic white tee of the denim industry”. The brand has already garnered an A-list following since its launch in 2008, with Julien counting Pink, Gwen Stefani, Megan Fox, Halle Berry and Jessica Alba amongst his biggest fans.

Luckily I had a chance to not only meet Julien during my last trip to Los Angeles, but also recently styled his Black Orchid Spring campaign. He flew out here and we decided to shoot at a beautiful contemporary home in West Vancouver (the skies blessed us with sun that weekend!), the storyline being based on a glam girl that lives and breathes in her Black Orchids. I worked with a team of great people including local Vancouver photographer Pooya Nabei, model Tara Wilkinson, makeup/hair artist Marlayna Pincott and my wonderful assistant Rachel Wardell. The big boss was extremely happy with the results and work on the next campaign will begin again soon!

The website will be fully completed and launched next week; in the meantime you can visit Julien and his jeans here: www.blackorchiddenim.com/new (I posted some of the images from our shoot in this entry).

Holt Renfrew now carries the line in all its doors. Girls, comfort + affordability + timeless design = One happy denim lover!

Follow Karolina @ twitter.com/karolinajez